Raven wrote:
Great pics Mike.
How do the Angels compare to your experience of other teams? Trying not to be nationalistic or run outa the US...
From your pics they look like pulling a lot of 'g', run low and fly tight. Good stuff.
Patriots eh? Cool. That's be why they're using ex-Warpac kit then.
It's sure a funny old world.
It sure is, especially as they are described as 'Boeing L-39s' on their website! How bizarre is that?
That was the first time that I've seen the 'Blue Angels', and I must say that I rate them very highly. Having said that, at that level, all the major teams are bloody good, whether from Europe or North America. Each has a display tailored to the strengths of their aircraft. For example, the best European teams fly large formations, with formation changes part way through aerobatic manouvres. Very skillful, very impressive.
On the other hand, the North American teams fly very tight formations, and use the power of their aircraft for maximum rate turns and zoom climbs from the solos. Also very skillful, also very impressive.
The one comment that I would make is that the choreography tends to be tighter from the best of the European teams. There is always something going on in front of you, with no noticable gaps. I believe that this is a function of their usual display venues, when they are very often part of a much larger show, rather than the main focus of the show, so fly a shorter, but busier routine.
At some of the bigger European shows, you might have 4 or 5 of the National teams, as part of an all-day airshow. This incidentally is why the US Teams aren't requested at RIAT at Fairford any longer - their 1 1/2 - hour required slot time simply takes up too much of the programmed display.
So what I'm really trying to say is that these guys are all outstanding, each flies to the best features of their aircraft, and none is better than the others, just different. One thing that certainly gives me HUGE respect for the Red Arrows in the UK is the way that they will display in absolutely vile weather, when even the birds are walking. They even have 3 display routines, 'full', 'rolling' and 'flat', depending on the weather conditions.
Having said that, I have to say that I did prefer the Blue Angels to the Thunderbirds (who I've seen in the UK several times over the years, and again at Reno last month), although that may just be my own personal judgment being clouded by a rather unfortunate incident at RAF Lakenheath in the early 1990s.
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